Sokka and Toph fluff
by misty eyed doe
Summary: Sokka breaks up with Suki because he loves someone else. Cutesy fluff stuff. This is a fic exchange with AmbidextrousLion.


This was a fic exchange with the wonderfully sweet AmbidextrousLion (right here on fan , go check out her stories), who was kind enough to help me with a secret santa gift on short notice! Thank you very much

Two months. That's how long he'd been like that. Moping about Zuko's palace; throwing his boomerang around aimlessly; laying in bed for hours, even after he had woken up; and staring off into space when the others tried to engage him in conversation. Everyone in the palace knew why, though nobody brought it up. Sokka hadn't even mentioned Suki's name since he came back from their vacation. As expected, this made for very awkward dinner conversation.

The only sound to fill the large dining chamber was the clicking of chopsticks and Aang's obnoxious noodle slurping. Usually, Katara would silence him with a glare but everyone seemed to understand that any noise was better than silence in this moment. Sokka sighed. Zuko sent a pointed glance from the head of the table to Katara, who sat on the other side of Mei. At the same time, they both pushed their bowls away and cleared their throats.

"Well, I'm done," Zuko announced.

"Me too. It was a great meal, but Aang and I really should be going to our rooms," Katara chirped with forced cheerfulness. Her chair squealed against the floor as she stood up.

"But I'm not done eating," Aang whined, but Katara pulled him up by the arm. "Okay, I guess I am." He stumbled after her out of the chamber. Zuko watched them go, and then wondered if it would be proper of the Fire Lord to leave his guests before they've finished eating. But, after one sidelong glance at Sokka, who was sitting hunched at the table and hadn't even touched his soup yet, Zuko snatched up Mei's small hand and pulled let her out after the other two. He paused. "We're just going to leave now," he provided as a second thought, for Toph's sake.

She huffed. As if she didn't already know that. Still, she responded with a wave. She listened until their footsteps faded away into the depths of the palace, then thought, _great, leave the blind girl to deal with the heartbroken dummy_. But, inside, she knew that her blindness played no part in her unwillingness to take care of Sokka. Again.

How everyone seemed to be able to leave all at once before she could even protest was beyond her. It was like everyone but her had a telepathic link used strictly for sticking her with whatever job they didn't want to do. When Toph had confronted her on this, Katara had chuckled nervously and said," Well, out of all of us, you do seem to be the only one who can actually get him to do anything."

Little did they know, giving Toph the job of working with Sokka while he was in this state was probably the worst punishment they could have dished out. Toph had always looked up to Sokka as a means of relieving stress and taking a break from the others when they got too serious. He was the only one on their mission to stop the fire lord that could make her see reason or make her smile just by being near. Seeing, or rather, hearing, him like this was killing her.

She stretched calmly, then slammed her fist down on the table. "Alright," she snapped," you're going to finish that soup right now, or I will force you to finish it." She heard a little yelp come his direction but, other than that, he didn't react to her outburst. She snarled and stood up threateningly.

"I'm not hungry," Sokka said quickly before she could advance on him any more.

"Did I ask you if you were hungry?" Toph countered. "You need to eat or you'll die, so get to it." He sighed, picked up the bowl, and brought it up to his lips in the usual Sokka fashion. Then he shook his head and set it back down on the table, only to use his chopsticks to eat. Toph plopped back into her seat. Even his vigor for his true passion, food, had subsided into what could only be described as pathetic. They sat without speaking until Sokka was finished.

He let his chopsticks clatter onto the table. "I'm going to go to my room," he mumbled and stood up. Even his footsteps seemed to make smaller waves in the earth than usual, Toph noticed. Already, servants were hurrying to clean up the mess the group had left. Toph groaned, then chased after him.

"Come on, you don't really want to go cry alone like a baby all night, do you?" she teased. The thought of him wasting another night like this made her so crazy, she would do anything to cheer him up.

"Hey, I'm not going to-"

"Come with me to the garden. Just for a little while," she ordered. She stood in front of him, feet braced and ready for him to try to push past her, which he didn't.

There was a long moment of silence. "Yeah, okay, just for a little while." Toph's whole face lit up- that was the first time he had accepted to do anything remotely fun since he came back. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the doorway.

Toph led him all the way through the corridors until they came upon a pair of double doors. She burst through them into the dry outside air. She breathed in deeply and planted her bare feet into the warm ground. "This is so much better than that horrible stuffy palace." She waited for Sokka's reaction.

"It's okay." Then, he sighed and turned to go back into the palace.

"Oh, no you don't. Come on." Toph pulled him further out into the night, towards the courtyard with the fountain. It really was a beautiful night; there was a light breeze to break up the always-warm fire nation air. The air smelled of soil and rocks, laced with the nauseatingly sweet scent of the flowers planted along the stone pathway, which Toph completely disregarded. She preferred the feel of grass in between her toe to pebbles.

As they walked, she racked her brain for ideas on how to cheer him up. "I bet the stars are nice," Toph mused. No reply. "It feels good to get some fresh air, hunh?" Still no reply. "Wow, how about that fountain! Noisy and…watery…and stuff." Her words trailed off and she tilted her head upwards to where she believed Sokka's face to be. They had come to stop in the center of the pavilion in front of a grand fountain. Water cascaded down its side into a glowing pool that reflected the moonlight. The sound of bubbling water bounced all around them. _If this doesn't comfort him, nothing will,_ she thought. "What do you think?" she asked desperately.

A total of ten completely silent seconds passed as she waited for him to reply before she exploded. She turned on him and lunged, grabbing hold of his shirt. He let out a cry and stumbled a few steps backwards, his hand instinctively reaching for his boomerang.

"Toph-"

"Listen to me, you idiot," she cut him off," I don't know what stupid thing you did to make Suki break up with you, but I do know that you're being ridiculous right now. Nothing can really be as bad as this, can it?" At this, Sokka opened his mouth to reply but Toph didn't give him the chance. "Do you know how hard it is for us to see you like this? Did you even stop to think about how much you're hurting me?"

The sound of rippling water overtook the courtyard once more. "I meant us. How much you're hurting us," Toph muttered. Sokka placed his warm hands around her shoulders and moved her away from him slightly so he had enough room to look down at her. His eyes held a tenderness that was wasted on her sightless gaze. Her small fists were still clenched around the fabric of his shirt.

"Sit," he instructed and pulled her down with him. The grass was freshly trimmed and soft on their legs.

"You know, I actually broke up with her," Sokka said. Toph furrowed her eyebrows in confusion; she hadn't considered that possibility. "She wanted to get more serious but I still have feelings for someone else. I felt too guilty leading her on like that," he explained.

Toph took a second to digest the information. "Is the girl you still have feelings for the moon?" She asked, vaguely remembering a story he had once told her. He chuckled but didn't reply. He just shrugged and lay back in the grass with his hands behind his head. She saw this through the ripples in the earth and mimicked him so they lay side by side. Toph's breathing calmed as she listened to the breeze rustle the trees and the grasshoppers recover from their fear of the pair and take up their usual melancholy tune.

Sokka's voice seemed to fit right in with the sounds of the earth when it whispered her name. "Toph, I'm sorry I hurt you."

A guilty smile crept onto Toph's face at his words. And she hoped it was too dark for him to notice it. "No big deal."

"You know," Sokka breathed," you hurt me too."

Toph sat straight up and so did Sokka, like a puppeteer's strings attached them. "What? When?"

"Since I met you. I never really thought you liked me all that much."

"Why would you think something as stupid as that?" Toph gasped, obviously offended. Sokka shrugged. Toph waited her his response. When none came, she sighed," if you just shrugged, rolled your eyes or made any elaborate hand signal, I didn't catch it."

"Oh, yeah," Sokka smirked. "I just shrugged."

Toph made a noise of aggravation. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sokka shrugged again, but caught himself. "I don't know. I guess you just always put down my ideas and called me names and laughed when I did something stupid and-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'm a horrible friend." The words she really wanted to say were right on the tip of her tongue. The months of playing it cool in front of him, of putting him down to get his attention and trying to make her seem mysterious and alluring weighed on her chest. Now would be as good a time as ever to tell him. Though, never was a better time than now and ever. And when did she become such a coward? _Be strong as rock_, she reminded herself, like her old master used to when he was teaching her the art of earth bending. _Though,_ she thought, _earth becomes soft when mixed with water._

While Toph fought this internal battle, Sokka was wrestling with his own thoughts. "Friends," he repeated her word aloud, twirling a blade of grass between his fingers. It would be a stupid decision. What about Suki's feelings? Though, he'd pretty much ruined those already, even if that wasn't his intention. And besides, wasn't he known worldwide for making his stupid decisions?

Toph sensed movement beside her and turned her face towards Sokka, expecting him to speak. Instead, something warm and rough brushed her lips. She gasped and jerked away, causing Sokka to cry out as well. "What was that?" she asked, her muscles tensed for a fight. Sokka's cheeks turned pink.

"Hey, it's okay." Sokka grabbed Toph's clenched fists. They were so small that he could wrap his whole hand around one of hers. "Don't worry, there's no danger. I'm going to do it again, okay? Don't freak out."

He brushed his lips against hers once more. _Oh…OH,_ Toph thought. She'd never been kissed before. She didn't respond for a few seconds and just let Sokka move his lips against hers. Because of the fire nation's weather, both of them had dry, chapped lips but they didn't mind.

Toph finally gathered the courage to move her lips along with his. It didn't take long for her to dominate the kiss, and she moved her hands back up to grip his shirt. She felt him smile against her mouth and wrap his long arms around her. He smelled good up close, like cotton and wood.

Sokka was the first to pull away. They were both breathing heavily and grinning ear to ear. In that moment, it was just the two of them. Nothing else mattered but their breaths mixing with one each other and the indulgent feeling in their stomachs. There were no thoughts of the past or the future, only that moment.

"Toph," Sokka said," you're the girl I love."

"You love me?" Toph felt like there was no room left in her heart for more happiness.

"Yeah," he replied. Toph kissed him, hard.

"I think I might love you too."


End file.
